Kay Hively: The magic of music

Music is a large part of our everyday life. And, for the most part, it is wonderful, although most of us have a favorite kind. We generally have one or two types of music that have no place in our lives.

As much as I love music, I think there is far too much of it all day long. I enjoy the news and business channels on television, but I find it irritating that the networks overdo the music. Between almost every segment, and before and after every commercial, there is loud, and to me, very hard to listen to music.

But there are some commercials with music that make me smile.

One of these commercials show a man ice fishing while sitting in the back of his vehicle on shore. He has set his fishing rod in a hole that he has drilled in the ice. He has attached a flag on his rod and then sits in his nice warm vehicle to wait.

At last the flag pops up, indicating he has caught a fish.

The man steps out of his car and begins walking toward his fishing pole. The music rises and the tune is the theme from “The Andy Griffin Show.”

If you ever were fortunate enough to have seen this classic comedy show, you will recognize the music. You will remember the image of Andy and Opie walking to their favorite fishing hole, whistling this catchy little tune.

This is a great commercial and beautiful to look at with the frozen lake that sets the scene.

Another commercial that I enjoy is for Ford pickups. I personally like General Motors cars and trucks, but I love this Ford ad.

During this commercial, the view is always of Ford pickup; pickups from a variety of years and a variety of conditions. But the viewers only see the truck from the rear. Each truck is hauling or towing something. The loads in the trucks include such things as lumber, hay and even a load of watermelon. As a child I grew up in watermelon country so this is my favorite view.

As we viewers ride along, looking at what the pickups are hauling, we get a wonderful edition of “The William Tell Overture,” or, as many of us know the music better, the theme of the Lone Ranger television series.

Another one I like shows a man listening the classical music through headphones while his kids are playing hard rock music in the house. The headphones are so good the man sits comfortably with classical music in his head and joy all over his face.

Just between you and me, there is a place for every kind of music and some places that would benefit from silence.

(Kay Hively is a historian, author and former editor, reporter and columnist for the Neosho Daily News and Neosho Post.)